Jaguars 2016 Preseason Week 2: 5 Things

5 things that you need to know during the 2nd week of the 2016 preseason.
By Jordan de Lugo - @jordandelugo

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1. The starters will get more playing time in week 2

This is how the preseason goes: The first week the starters play a couple of drives, maybe the whole first quarter. The second week of preseason the starters usually get to play most of it not the entire first half. And that is just where we are. We'll get to see perhaps a full half from the starters against another young and talented team in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This will provide more context as to where the teams stands and where individuals like Marqise Lee, Dante Fowler, and Jalen Ramsey are at this point. 

2. The Jaguars have two open practices against the Buccaneers

The Jaguars play the Buccaneers on Saturday in their home preseason opener, but that won't be the first time these two teams get a crack at each other. The Jaguars will host two open practices against the Buccaneers. One taking place on Wednesday (today) and one on Thursday. While both practices are open to the public, tickets are sold out and will not be available at the event, so if you haven't registered by now then you're probably not going. These practices may be more entertaining than the actual game on Saturday. There will be tons of fans cheering on the Jags and two young, competitive, and familiar teams going up against one another - both teams feature a number of players from Florida schools. With situational drills to be featured in these two practices, there will be lots of excitement to be sure. 

3. Luke Joeckel will start again this week at left tackle

Dave Caldwell and Gus Bradley brought in Kelvin Beachum this offseason to be the starting left tackle for the Jacksonville Jaguars in week one of the regular season. It's currently week 2  of the preseason and Beachum still hasn't even participated in any true contact drills. He was held out against the Jets and will be held out again on Saturday against the Buccaneers. This leaves Luke Joeckel as the starter at left tackle, at least for the time being. In week one against a talented Jets front seven Joeckel actually played pretty well, and so did the rest of the offensive line as a whole. Watch to see what Joeckel is able to do against talented edge rushers like Robert Ayers and Noah Spence.

4. Jalen Ramsey is back

After seemingly not missing a beat following Ramseys early summer knee surgery, Ramsey was suddenly held out in the middle of last week and did not play against the Jets. After missing the first preseason game and a couple of practices Ramsey was back in action on Tuesday and looks to be good to go for both practices against the Bucs and the game on Saturday. This will be great competition for the young cornerback as he will likely face off against the physically imposing Mike Evans. Be sure to keep an eye on him - hopefully he looks better than he has so far in practice against the ultra smooth Allen Robinson. 

5. Can the Jaguars pass rush impress for a second straight week?

Against the Jets offensive line in week one of the preseason the Jaguars were pretty impressive. Malik Jackson created interior pressure and Yannick Ngakoue recorded his first sack in his first NFL preseason game. The reserves played well including sacks from Bjöern Werner and Michael Bennett. This Jaguars defensive line has been truly impressive (finally) from OTAs to Training Camp and into the Preseason. If the Jaguars can continue the positive play on the defensive line against a Buccaneers offensive line that was perhaps the most improved O-line in the NFL in 2015, then they will be one step closer to proving they are the real deal.

A couple of things to keep an eye on here:

Can Dante Fowler play freer than he did in his first preseason game? We all know what he can do when he plays with fire, and reckless abandon, hopefully we see that this week. 

Can Sen'Derrick Marks show his old form? In 2014 Marks had one of the most dominate seasons as defensive tackle that Duval has ever seen . . . In the final game of 2014 Marks tore his ACL; his recovery took longer than expected and when he finally returned in 2015 he wasn't the same player. Shortly after returning he suffered a torn triceps in his shoulder that forced him to miss the rest of the season. Now, it's 2016 and Marks is fully healthy. If he can show some of his 2014 form at some point this preseason that would be a HUGE thing for the Jaguars. Keep an eye on 99 this week!

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